Premium Hardwood Bar Rail, Bar Tops & Bar Fronts

I just entered my review. Great product and service! Here are a few photos of the finished product. I’m very happy with it. Even my friend who teaches cabinet making thought my miters were excellent!!Tom l. – Kalamazoo MI

05/11/18

Great product and service!

I just want to say thank you for the quality product. I received the bar rail I ordered in pristine shape. It was packaged well, straight and square. Thanks again for delivering a quality product.

Tommy Guidry

Just received the 2 pieces of bar rail I ordered. They are exactly what we were hoping for. Arrived in Iowa in perfect condition. Great price. I must say we were a little apprehensive ordering something like this sight unseen but again it looks great and is the last piece we need to complete our new…

I just wanted to drop a quick email to say thank you for your superb help and advice on my bar build project. The Chicago bar rail turned out amazing!! And honestly I was scared to death cutting it, I think I measured 4-5 time before taking it to the saw. But it turned out! I have enclosed a picture…

Craig A. KnoppMaryland

Thank you so much for the bar rail. It was a great piece with super fast shipping.

Terry K. – Willowstreet PA

06/30/18

Hi Paul,

Attached are some pictures of the bar I recently completed using your parts.

Thanks for the help.

Tom B. – Stockholm NJ

12/16/17

The quality of every piece was flawless.

I received my order for a 12′ oak bar rail that was cut in half and when I unpacked it, I noticed the ends were not biscuit cut as listed. I sent an email with my concern and Paul called me on a Saturday. I had not unwrapped the ends completely, they go the extra mile in their packaging and shipping…

Just finished installing the bar rails in our Tiki Shed. I purchased BR475 in Red Oak. The quality is absolutely top notch. This stock is beautiful! Great packaging and shipping too. Hardwoods Inc. has the highest quality in selection and materials. Thanks! Highly recommended!

Paul was awesome at getting me exactly what I was looking for. Even with international shipping I had the product in less than a week. These bar rails are EXACTLY what I was looking for and couldn’t find anywhere else in Canada.

Bar Parts

To build a bar, you’re going to need some basic bar parts:

Bar Top: You’ll need a top for your bar, where guests can rest their drinks. This can either be tongue and groove, like one of our quick ship hardwood bar top kits, or a live edge solid wood bar top to give your bar that rustic, natural feel.

Bar Wall: This is the solid wood piece that connects the bar top to the ground. You have lots of options for your bar wall, including one solid piece, or something built out of cabinetry for extra under-bar storage.

Bar Rail: Create a comfortable spot for your guests to rest their arms with a gorgeous hardwood bar rail in your choice of finish. No bar is complete without one!

Foot Rail: Let your guests rest their feet after a long day on a foot rail made of wood or metal.

Basic Tools

Keep all of these on hand for quick access as you’re building your bar:

Tape Measure: The old adage to “measure twice, cut once” is important in bar-building, too. You’ll need a tape measure from the beginning stages of planning all the way through to the finishing touches, so keep track of it!

Pencil & Paper: From taking measurements to sketching out your plans, you’ll need a pencil and paper through the whole project.

Circular Saw: A handheld circular saw with a nice, sharp blade will be needed to cut through any wood pieces of your bar.

Sandpaper: Quality sandpaper in a variety of grains will help you get those smooth edges on all your wood pieces to keep your guests from getting splinters.

Wood Glue, Nails, & Screws: These are essential to holding together the various parts of your bar.

T-Square: Necessary to get straight corners on large solid pieces, you won’t want to be without one!

Motorized Miter Box: Use this to cut and fit bar rails and other moldings.

Extras

Fluted Columns & Trim: Add a great decorative element and polished, professional look with columns or trim on your bar front.

Drip Edge: Keep spills and crumbs from falling on the floor with a drip edge to match your bar rail and bar top.

Glass Rail: Play professional bartender and line up glasses ready for drinks on a glass rail, attached to the back edge of the bar top.

It’s wedding season, and you’re not quite sure what to get your favorite couple for their impending nuptials. You could go traditional and get a toaster off their registry (Boring!) or give them cash for their honeymoon (That feels so impersonal!), but you want something different.

How about helping that great new husband and wife stock their home bar for years of entertaining? And who knows: If you give them a gift they love, they may just invite you over for drinks!

Here are 5 gift ideas for the bar-enthusiast couple in your life:

Engraved Wine Glasses & a Tasty Bottle of Wine

Didriks // Flickr

If they love wine, what better way to start off their joint bar than with a set of wine glasses engraved with their names and wedding date? Add in a fancy bottle of special wine – maybe one bottled in the year they met – and you’ve got a great gift suitable for any wedding!

Personalized Cornhole Set

Bart Everson // Flickr

Does the couple love hosting backyard barbecues or bonfires? How about a personalized cornhole set made with their monogram with beanbags in their wedding colors? They’ll get to relive the fun and excitement of their wedding every time they have guests over, and your gift is sure to be a talking piece for years to come.

Cork Shadow Box

Elisha Terada // Unsplash

Another one for the wine-loving couple: A personalized wine cork shadow box. You can get the box engraved with their names, wedding date, a special quote, or anything else that suits the couple. They’ll then take it home and fill it up with the corks from all those great bottles of wine they share together and with friends throughout the years.

This is also a great idea for the couple who loves beer!

Personalized Cutting Board

Vitchakorn Koonyosying // Unsplash

What good are drinks without tasty snacks? An engraved cutting board is a great gift option for that couple that loves cheese plates with their wine, or canapes with their cocktails. Bonus: Every time they use the cutting board, they’ll think of you!

Reusable Ice

Patrick Schopflin // Unsplash

Does the couple love their drinks on the rocks, but hates that watered-down flavor after adding regular ice? Gifting them a great set of whiskey stones or other reusable ice cubes will keep their drinks cold and strong for years to come. You can find reusable ice cubes in a variety of materials and shapes, so there’s sure to be something fun to suit the couple’s tastes!

And we won’t leave you hanging! Our bar-building resources have everything you need to build your own bar, or give us a call to talk to one of our experienced bar-building experts. We appreciate your business!

Sports? Video games? Movies? Music? No matter the passion, every man (and woman!) needs a space at home to serve as an escape and entertainment spot for friends with their interests. But how do you build the perfect man cave? There’s no exact formula, but there are plenty of tips and tricks to create a perfect man cave for your needs!

The great thing about a man cave is that, while it’s main purpose is to foster escapism or be a gathering place for friends (sometimes both), it can also add value to your property and make it more attractive to potential future buyers. The key is to make sure your man cave looks expertly constructed and decorated.

Choose a Theme

To start, you’ll need to choose a theme. There are a few ways to go about this. One option is to think about your (or the person who the space is for) personality. Do you want a sporty, bar-like vibe? Or maybe you are a big movie buff who needs a theater in your basement. Or, a gaming lounge may be more appropriate. If music is your passion, an in-home studio home beats out all of these options.

If you have a wide range of passions or a different goal for your man cave, you can base the theme off a cool collectible or original piece of furniture that you plan to place in the room. Get color and theme ideas from that piece – maybe a billiards theme from a pool table, or a Hollywood vibe centered around that collectible velvet rope divider you’ve had laying around.

Figure out Where

Once you have your theme picked out, you need to get practical before the fun starts. This means figuring out the where and how of construction. Are you going to have your man cave inside or outside? If you really want to have a separate haven, a shed or unattached garage could be a great site for your man cave. For something like this, you’ll most likely need to hire an electrician to extend your home’s power to the structure you’re planning on using. You may also need to invest in a Wi-Fi extender for streaming, gaming, and internet needs. If your purpose is entertainment and hosting the big game every Sunday, opting for an indoors man cave may be the best choice. Ease of access and closer proximity to the kitchen are important factors!

DIY or Hire Help?

After the “where” is sorted out, you’ll have to decide how. Are you going to do it yourself, hire a contractor, or a combination of both? To start, measure out the space and transfer to graph paper so you can visualize the space more easily. Make a list of necessary materials and tools and create a budget for all of this; make sure you include a 10-15% buffer for unexpected expenses that will come up. To save money, borrow tools from friends and family or rent from a home improvement store!

Think about what you’re planning to do with your space. Will you need plumbing, electrical, or HVAC components? If yes, you’ll want to at least consult with an expert in these areas, and probably hire one. DIY is great, but there are a few things that are best left to the professionals who can do high-quality work safely. If you’re not doing anything fancy or are doing some of the work on your own, don’t be afraid to ask for help from your friends and family (especially those with previous building experience)! Create a list of what needs to get done and when and share it with everyone involved, including contractors, so you are on the same page with the timetable and individual project goals (e.g., the home bar needs to be completed by August 1st, the custom taps should be installed by August 14th).

Get Decorating

Once all of the logistics are finished up, the fun part starts – decor and entertainment!

Things you will need, no matter your theme: a big TV, an excellent sound system, and a great home bar.

For the sports-lover, a sports bar feeling will be perfect for the man cave. Your home bar should be fully stocked and even have a tap installed so your guests can enjoy draft beers. Keep bar snacks handy! Add a foosball table, some framed jerseys, and a bookcase that will display all of your collectibles from your favorite teams.

The movie buff will need the best surround sound system available to partner with a projector and screen. Dark leather couches or chairs will create a cool, comfortable, luxury theater feeling. The home bar should have a soda fountain, a popcorn maker, and (of course) plenty of candy options.

Looking for more of a music studio-inspired man cave? Make the acoustics perfect with a thick rug and wall padding, bring in comfortable seating, and have plenty of outlets for instruments, amps, and recording devices. You and your musician friends will also love having a home bar stocked with whiskey, vodka, and other forms of liquid inspiration.

Maybe you’re looking for more of a gathering place to spend time with friends without a TV as a distraction. Bring in a pool table, a card table and plenty of board games, a jukebox hooked up to a speaker system, and bar stools pulled up to a home bar that is ready to serve up the best local beer, craftiest cocktails, and a fridge for all of the food you’ve cooked for people to enjoy.

Creating the perfect man cave allows you to have an escape, a place to bring friends, and creates an added value to your property. The center of this space is going to be your gorgeous home bar. If you want to ensure your home bar is of the highest quality, contact Hardwoods Inc. today. We’ll help you build the best bar to fit your needs, whatever they may be!

Thinking about building a home bar? While you already probably have figured out the benefits of having one, have you thought about how you’re going to get it made? You have a few choices, but your main decision is between DIY-ing the bar or hiring a professional.

So what are the benefits of building your own versus hiring a pro to do the work for you?

DIY Home Bar

Building your own bar is a huge project to take on. It will cost less than hiring a professional, so that’s something that shouldn’t be taken lightly! On the flip side, though, you will be responsible for planning, measuring, finding all of the proper and necessary materials, and eventually breaking out your power tools and making your blueprint a reality.

DIY-ing your home bar will obviously save you on labor costs. But, even with this benefit, you have to make sure you budget wisely. It can be easy to get carried away and spend more money on unnecessary bells and whistles rather than important, quality components.

Make sure you have extra materials ready in case something gets messed up. You also want to be mindful of the quality of materials; while cheap seems nice on your wallet in the moment, it won’t be a wise choice in the long run if you have to perform multiple repairs.

Also be aware of the time and space that will be required of you to make your dream bar happen. You may have to wait for permits if you want electrical or plumbing incorporated, and you’ll have to give up a couple weekends worth of going out to make sure staying in becomes fun! The building process can also be messy, so if your family uses the space you’re renovating frequently, you may need to consider other’s schedules and needs before building.

Building your own home bar is extremely rewarding and will allow you to have a continuous project to update and elaborate on. If you have the time and don’t mind a huge mess for a few weeks, it’s a worthwhile project!

Hiring a Professional

Hiring a professional to build your home bar may feel like you’re taking the easy way out – but in certain situations, it’s going to be your best option.

If you want a large and complex project, especially one with plumbing, electricity, or high-end carpentry, you’re most likely better off paying someone to do all of that for you. All of the YouTube videos in the world can’t prepare you to make an extravagant in-home bar!

A professional will also get the job done faster than you could on your own. This will help relieve your stress about time you have to spend away from other responsibilities and also time that area of your home will be unusable.

As mentioned before, a professional contractor costs more than doing it yourself. You also want to make sure you have a wishlist prepared to be sure neither you nor the contractor forget anything you’ve requested. It’s also important to ask for a free estimate from multiple contractors, which will allow you to price compare and get the most bang for your buck. An estimate should include a contract, a price breakout, total cost, and the payment terms. You’ll have to discuss a timeline for the work and ensure the agreed-upon date is included in the contract.

Finally, if you’re bringing in new appliances, purchase them before the beginning of your project so your contractor knows exactly what dimensions he or she is working with. The last thing you want is an additional cost of labor and materials because your mini fridge is two inches too big!

Both DIY-ing a home bar and hiring a contractor are good options – it all depends on your personal needs and what you hope to get out of the project! No matter which you choose, contact Hardwoods Incorporated for all of your bar-building materials. We offer only the best in both wood and knowledgeable professionals to help you create the home bar of your dreams.

Now that summer is in full swing, you may be thinking of ways to maximize your backyard barbecues and family gatherings. Sure, a cooler of beers in the backyard is perfectly fine, but if you want to take your parties to the next level, a patio bar is an awesome addition.

Before you set to work creating that new addition to your shindigs, here’s everything you need to know about building a patio bar, from the bar-building experts at Hardwoods Incorporated:

Choose Your Spot

First, you need to figure out where you’ll build your new patio bar. In the outdoors, it’s important to choose your spot carefully.

Make sure the location you choose is in as level a spot as possible, preferably on a deck or patio. If your area is prone to heavy rains and flooding, you might want to make sure that your spot is elevated enough off the ground that any water damage will be decreased.

If you plan to include refrigeration or be able to make blended drinks at your patio bar, be sure to find a spot close enough to an exterior outlet with safe grounding. Or, if that isn’t possible, consider getting a small, quiet generator to run power from.

Be sure to check out your spot at different times of day to see how much sun or shade it gets. Though full sun isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker on your chosen location, it may mean you need to design the bar with a built-in patio umbrella to keep you and your guests cool.

Get Measurements

Before you even start designing and thinking about materials, you want to figure out exactly how big your bar should be. Larger bars, of course, are going to cost more, so if you’re worried about budget you may need to adjust your dimensions down a bit to fit more in line with what you’d like to spend.

Pull out your measuring tape or yardstick and roughly measure the area you’d like for your bar. Don’t forget space for you or whoever will be tending bar to move around and bend while making drinks. If you’re including refrigerators or other large fixtures, make sure to plan in space for those, usually under the bar top and in the back area of the bar. Our Standard Bar Dimensions & Specifications page has lots of information to help you with this portion of your process.

Think about Design

Now comes some of the fun. After picking your spot and getting some rough idea of how big your patio bar will be, you can begin thinking about the design details that will make your patio bar uniquely yours.

Start out by looking through magazines or on the internet – Pinterest and Houzz are great resources – and compiling a list of things you like and dislike about other bars you see. If you have a specific vision for your bar’s theme, think about ways to bring that theme into your design.

To avoid going overboard with theming (because you can), we suggest picking one or two main focal pieces or points that you can build everything else around. These focal points should be things that are either big and bold – think a specific color or a great sculpture – or that have some real significance and meaning for you. Make everything else you bring to your patio bar – colors, fixtures, artwork – less overpowering than your focal points.

Installing a home bar is the start of a lot of fun: Your house will be the go-to for neighborhood parties, dinners with friends, and to watch Sunday’s game. Are you ready to be the star bartender your friends expect? Do you have the skills to throw together an old fashioned, a margarita, or a manhattan? If you don’t think you’re there yet, don’t worry; the skills needed to make great cocktails are basic and easy to learn! Here’s a quick guide to help you begin learning to make these cocktails and impress your guests.

Shaking

Shaking is usually included in drinks that have fruit juice, egg, or dairy ingredients. Shaking introduces extra oxygen bubbles and creates a frothy appearance to the drink. To properly shake, you’ll need a shaker. Fill it halfway with ice, add your ingredients and shake vigorously (seriously, don’t be gentle), and then strain as you pour.

Stirring

Stirring is a more subtle technique for a different kind of cocktail. When you’re stirring a cocktail, most likely that cocktail is something along the lines of a manhattan or martini composed of alcohol-only ingredients. The goal is to mix the drink just enough to make it smooth and allow the spirits to blend nicely; shaking with ice would dilute the drink. Use a long bar spoon and stir quickly to create a vortex in the center of the cocktail for about 30 seconds, let it rest, and then strain as you pour into another glass.

Building

This is probably how you already make your cocktails – simply added the ingredients and giving it a little stir (no vortex!). The idea here is to simply make sure your alcohol and mixer are equally distributed. This method is most frequently used for drinks with carbonated ingredients, like your average Jack and Coke.

Topping Off

Even easier than building, topping off means simply to fill the glass with the instructed ingredient.

Muddling

Some cocktail recipes call for a muddled ingredient (mojitos and old fashioneds are on this list). Reading this on the cocktail instructions might be confusing, but really all it takes is a muddler and your own strength. Simply put the ingredients in a shallow dish or bottom of a glass and grind until they are crushed and pulverized, releasing their essential oils and strong flavors. Once they look nice and ground up, add them to the rest of the cocktail ingredients and mix as instructed!

Straining

Obviously a needed skill, as it has been mentioned in two of the other skills you need to have! Straining is as simple as it sounds – you often will pour a drink after it was shaken or stirred through a strainer to make sure the cocktail doesn’t have any chunks of ingredients or seeds in it. Many shakers come with a built-in strainer, but if it doesn’t or you’re stirring a drink, you’ll want to buy a strainer. There are two primary types of strainers: hawthorne and julep strainers. Hawthorne strainers are supposed to be used when pouring from a tin and julep strainers when pouring from a glass. For your home bar, the difference doesn’t really matter, so one can serve both purposes. If you want to ensure that you get a perfectly clean pour, invest in a fine mesh strainer!

Blending

Throwing ingredients into a blender may seem easy enough, but there’s actually some tips you’ll want to follow to make sure those daquiris are as smooth and delicious as can be. Use fresh fruit if you can, and rinse it off before using. Remove the stems and skin and chop into cubes around 1 inch. Herbs should be rinsed as well and torn into smaller pieces with the stems removed. Once you’re ready to blend, add all of the ingredients in with ice. Crushed or cracked ice is your best bet, as it blends easier and will save your blender’s motor and blades in the long run. Hold on to the top of your blender and start at a low speed and use the pulse mode to chop down the ingredients and ice and then begin to work through the speed cycles from lowest to highest for a super smooth blended drink! Avoid using carbonated beverages in the blender, and make sure you clean the blender after each use and between different types of drinks.

With these basic bartending skills, you’re well on your way to concocting the best drinks in your neighborhood. Now that you have the skills, you’re just missing the home bar!

You’ve probably used a bar rail, but just didn’t realize it. For a beautiful custom bar, installing a bar rail is an important part of making sure your bar looks professional and finished.

What Is a Bar Rail?

A bar rail is the decorative hardwood edging that borders the bar top on the front of your bar. Your customers or guests can lean up against it, and installing a bar rail gives your bar a polished, finished look that can rival any professionally built bar.

It is made with a curved, slightly sloping construction to provide comfort to guests and prevent glasses and other objects from sliding off the bar top.

High-quality bar rail will have a simple, notched-out rear profile, making it easy to install. At Hardwoods Incorporated, our solid wood bar rail is milled from a single piece of prime grade hardwood lumber. Not only does this construction give a quality finish, it also provides lasting durability and strength to your bar rail.

Different types of hardwood will suit different bar rail uses. For example, if you plan to build an outdoor bar, more weather-resistant hardwoods such as teak or mahogany will provide the longest-lasting bar rail. We offer bar rails in a wide variety of hardwood species, including red oak, cherry, hard maple, black walnut, poplar, and rare species.

First, set up your spoil board against your bar subtop to hold the bar rail in position while cutting. Set your miter box angle at 45 degrees and position the bar rail on the spoil board to make the first cut.

Next, reset the miter box to the opposite 45-degree angle and position the other piece of your bar rail for another cut.

After you make both cuts, check the pieces for proper fit and make any adjustments necessary. Next, drill pilot holes into your subtop every 12 inches. If you so choose, you can make a biscuit joint on the bar rail miter for added strength, but this step is not necessary.

Apply glue to the subtop and to the top notch of the bar rail. Brush the glue into a thin layer on the sub top and bar rail for a closer fit. After applying the glue, use clamps with blocking to hold the bar rail in position while it dries.

Finally, using the pilot holes you drilled into the subtop, secure the bar rail to the bar top from underneath with screws. Once you do some light sanding and apply a water-resistant finish, your bar top will be ready to serve your guests all those tasty drinks!

For over 40 years we have been building commercial bars and assisting contractors, builders and home owners to do it yourself with our bar rail moldings, bar top and bar front parts made to exacting standards by us in our facility. We never sub contract our work or import parts of questionable quality. What we offer on our website is what you get, you order an 8′ section of bar rail you get 8′ in one piece not 2 pieces 4′. We even offer wood species and extra long lengths of bar rail molding you can’t buy anywhere else. Pictured below are a few examples of our larger commercial and and home bar projects made with our bar parts.

Pictured here is a large commercial bar completed for the “American Legion in Ocean City New Jersey” featuring extra long lengths of our BR475 Bar rail molding and matching radius corners all custom milled from quartersawn sapele mahogany.

Here we have another large commercial bar “Tellers in Bushnell, Illinois” this bar was complated using our BR550 Traditional wood bar armrest molding, matching radius corners and custom size main bar top kits.

Large home bars are starting to become more popular as well, this nice size L shaped home bar was completed using our American Black walnut bar top kits, BR475 curved bar rail molding and matching straight bar rail sections. A fine job by our DIY customer Samuel in Mount Pleasant Wisconsin.

Whatever you call it Chicago bar rail, Traditional wood bar armrest molding or bar edge trim we make and stock seven different models to choose from in a myriad of sizes and wood species for prompt shipment worldwide.BR475 Bar rail molding.

Affordable, Quality Hardwood Bar Parts for Every Bar

At Hardwoods Incorporated, we pride ourselves on making only the highest-quality hardwood bar tops, bar rail molding, and bar parts so you can have exactly the look you want at a fraction of the cost. Check out our in-stock selection in a variety of beautiful hardwoods, or contact us to request any of our products in a custom specie. We look forward to hearing from you! 1-844-BAR-RAIL

At Hardwoods Incorporated we’ve had the privileged of working some pretty talented home owners, contractors and do-it-yourselfers. Pictured below is a sampling of recently completed home bars submitted by customers using our bar building products.

This L shaped home bar was completed by Jeff R. in Elgin IL using our BR475 bar rail moldings and matching radius corner.

Here we have a beautiful front and back bar with an overhead canopy and lighting crafted by Bryan S. in Hudson FL trimmed with our BR475 Bar rail.

Lastly we have an elegant L shaped home bar and back bar with a rich dark stain custom crafted by Tony G. in Coatesville PA. The BR475 Chicago style bar rail molding with a long angled corner softens the overall look of the bar.

We are proud of our customers and their do-it-yourself efforts, some have never built a home bar or have any woodworking experience. If you are ready to get started on your home bar project and are looking for ideas and inspiration, look no further we offer a full library of bar-building resources to make creating the perfect bar an enjoyable project you feel confident tackling. Hardwoods Incorporated has what you need to create a beautiful, custom bar. Our affordable bar parts come in a variety of wood species to meet any look, or contact us for a custom order.

We have our BR475 Traditional wood bar arm rest molding in stock for immediate shipment in oak, poplar, maple, cherry and mahogany no waiting, no back orders and no excuses. We can even ship this molding up to 106″ long in one piece by UPS allowing you to build a bigger home bar. Need a longer length or matching radius corner? No problem we stock radius corners and bar rail moldings up to 16′ long. We can make these assurances because we manufacture everything we sell and rely on no one to make it for us.

At Hardwoods Incorporated, we pride ourselves on making only the highest-quality hardwood bar tops, bar rail molding, and bar parts so you can have exactly the look you want at a fraction of the cost. Check out our in-stock selection in a variety of domestic and exotic hardwoods, or contact us to request any of our products in a custom specie. We look forward to hearing from you! 1-844-BAR-RAIL